Re: Motor Oils

[TJCallahan@domain.elided]

Nice discussion and a beautiful post by Thomas Gonnella. Thanks, Thomas, and 
where might one find a local oil analysis lab? Under what heading in the 
yellow pages should we look, if we wanted to have our oils analyzed?

My .02 on the oil change subject is that switching to synthetic oil on a NEW 
engine provides three major advantages for me - 1. Less frequent oil changes 
(I'm in a fairly temperate climate year around); 2. Continued high protection 
over the oil change interval; and 3. Lower internal engine friction (not sure 
I'm expressing myself clearly here) due to the lower weight oil used in the 
synthetic (5W vs 20W).

I won't switch to synthetic on an engine that has run for many miles on 
non-synth because the older seals will allow the synth to leak (per the 
recent motorcycle story).

Time and technology does march on and the oils in use today aren't even close 
to the crude stuff in use 40 years ago. If one starts from a fresh engine 
(new or rebuilt), one should be able to use synthetic oil to its fullest 
advantage.

BTW, I'm not an oils engineer nor do I play one on TV. Just my opinion based 
on a little experience. Enjoy yours (thanks JH, for the phrase).

Tom
Seattle
6310123
7711615
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